Laetrile Health Dictionary

Nutritional Profile Energy value (calories per serving): Low Protein: Moderate Fat: Low Saturated fat: Low Cholesterol: None Carbohydrates: High Fiber: High Sodium: Low (fresh or dried fruit) High (dried fruit treated with sodium sulfur compounds) Major vitamin contribution: Vitamin A Major mineral contribution: Iron

About the Nutrients in This Food Apricots are a good source of dietary fiber with insoluble cellulose and lignin in the skin and soluble pectins in the flesh. The apricot’s creamy golden color comes from deep yellow carotenes (including beta-carotene) that make the fruit a good source of vitamin A. Apricots also have vitamin C and iron. One apricot has 0.7 g dietary fiber, 674 IU vitamin A (21 percent of the R DA for a woman, 23 percent of the R DA for a man), and 3.5 mg vitamin C (5 percent of the R DA for a woman, 4 percent of the R DA for a man). Two dried apricot halves provide 0.6 g dietary fiber, 252 IU vitamin A (11 percent of the R DA for a woman, 8 percent of the R DA for a man), no vitamin C, and 2 mg iron (11 percent of the R DA for a woman, 25 percent of the R DA for a man). The bark, leaves, and inner stony pit of the apricot all contain amyg- dalin, a naturally occurring compound that degrades to release hydrogen cyanide (prussic acid) in your stomach. Apricot oil, treated during processing to remove the cyanide, is marked FFPA to show that it is “free from prussic acid.” Cases of fatal poisoning from apricot pits have been reported, including one in a three-year-old girl who ate 15 apricot kernels (the seed inside the pit). Extract of apricot pits, known medically as Laetrile, has been used by some alternative practitioners to treat cancer on the theory that the cyanide in amygdalin is released only when it comes in contact with beta-glucuronidase, an enzyme common to tumor cells. Scientifically designed tests of amygdalin have not shown this to be true. Laetrile is illegal in the United States.

The Most Nutritious Way to Serve This Food Ounce for ounce, dried apricots are richer in nutrients and fiber than fresh ones.

Diets That May Restrict or Exclude This Food Low-fiber diet Low-potassium diet Low-sodium diet (dried apricots containing sodium sulfide)

Buying This Food Look for: Firm, plump orange fruit that gives slightly when you press with your thumb. Avoid: Bruised apricots. Like apples and potatoes, apricots contain polyphenoloxidase, an enzyme that combines with phenols in the apricots to produce brownish pigments that discolor the fruit. When apricots are bruised, cells are broken, releasing the enzyme so that brown spots form under the bruise. Avoid apricots that are hard or mushy or withered; all are less flavorsome than ripe, firm apricots, and the withered ones will decay quickly. Avoid greenish apricots; they are low in carotenes and will never ripen satisfactorily at home.

Storing This Food Store ripe apricots in the refrigerator and use them within a few days. Apricots do not lose their vitamin A in storage, but they are very perishable and rot fairly quickly.

Preparing This Food When you peel or slice an apricot, you tear its cells walls, releasing polyphenoloxidase, an enzyme that reacts with phenols in the apricots, producing brown compounds that darken the fruit. Acids inactivate polyphenoloxidase, so you can slow down this reaction (but not stop it completely) by dipping raw sliced and/or peeled apricots into a solution of lemon juice or vinegar and water or by mixing them with citrus fruits in a fruit salad. Polyphenoloxidase also works more slowly in the cold, but storing peeled apricots in the refrigerator is much less effective than an acid bath. To peel apricots easily, drop them into boiling water for a minute or two, then lift them out with a slotted spoon and plunge them into cold water. As with tomatoes, this works because the change in temperature damages a layer of cells under the skin so the skin slips off easily.

What Happens When You Cook This Food Cooking dissolves pectin, the primary fiber in apricots, and softens the fruit. But it does not change the color or lower the vitamin A content because carotenes are impervious to the heat of normal cooking.

How Other Kinds of Processing Affect This Food Juice. Since 2000, following several deaths attributed to unpasteurized apple juice contami- nated with E. coli O157:H7, the FDA has required that all juices sold in the United States be pasteurized to inactivate harmful organisms such as bacteria and mold. Drying. Five pounds of fresh apricots produce only a pound of dried ones. Drying removes water, not nutrients; ounce for ounce, dried apricots have 12 times the iron, seven times the fiber, and five times the vitamin A of the fresh fruit. Three and a half ounces of dried apricots provide 12,700 IU vitamin A, two and a half times the full daily requirement for a healthy adult man, and 6.3 mg of iron, one-third the daily requirement for an adult woman. In some studies with laboratory animals, dried apricots have been as effective as liver, kidneys, and eggs in treating iron-deficiency anemia. To keep them from turning brown as they dry, apricots may be treated with sulfur dioxide. This chemical may cause serious allergic reactions, including anaphylactic shock, in people who are sensitive to sulfites.

Medical Uses and/or Benefits * * *

Adverse Effects Associated with This Food Sulfite allergies. See How other kinds of processing affect this food.

Food/Drug Interactions * * *... apricots

Action: antitussive, anti-asthmatic. “Long Chinese traditional use in treating tumours.” (Kiangsu Institute of Modern Medicine, 1977, Encyclopaedia of Chinese Drugs (2 vols), Shanghai Scientific and Technical Publications, People’s Republic of China.) See: LAETRILE. ... apricot

Course of the disease is unpredictable, cases surviving for many years on primary or supportive herbal treatment. Suspected malignancy should be referred to modern hospital treatment immediately. Early detection is vital.

Common signs calling attention are: (1) Unusual bleeding or discharge. (2) Tired feeling all the time. (3) Thickening or lump in breast or elsewhere. (4) Sudden change in hair texture and colour. (5) Irritable cough or hoarseness. (6) Extreme mental depression. (7) Obvious change in a mole or wart. (8) Muscle weakness and cramps. (9) A sore that does not heal. (10) Change in bowel or bladder habit. (11) Sudden weakness of the eyes. (12) Difficulties in swallowing; indigestion. (13) Excess wind in stomach or bowel.

Tumour-killing effect of chemotherapy may be intensified and side-effects minimised (loss of weight, and of white blood cells) when certain neoplastic herbs are prescribed. Cytotoxic drugs inhibit the ability of Vitamin C to stimulate the body’s defences. Herbs enhance the body’s self-healing ability to eliminate. An inoperable cancer would appear to be good grounds for herbal medication which often relieves pain and preserves a man’s dignity in his hour of extremity.

A series of medical trials in Finland revealed that terminal cases had 12 per cent lower mean serum selenium concentration than controls. Other similar trials point to the need for selenium supplements. Those with both low selenium and low Vitamin E levels are especially at risk.

See: GERSON CANCER THERAPY.

Exercise. High levels of fitness are associated with lower death rates. (American study)

Plants with a special reference to cancer include: Blue Flag, Burdock, Clivers, Condurango, Echinacea, Guaiacum, Houseleek, Poke root. There are many more referred to in medical literature.

Poke Root. John Bartram reported in the late 18th century that from his experience among the Mohawk Indians, Poke root (Phytolacca decandra) was a “cure” for cancer. (American Indian Medicine, Virgil J. Vogel)

Blood Root. For internal or external bleeding of cancer.

Calendula (Marigold). For the same purpose.

Mistletoe. Dr Alfred Vogel advises an extract of the plant (Loranthus europaeus) as grown on the Oak tree: dose: 10-15 drops.

Almonds. Edgar Cayce, Virginia Beach, USA, with some successes to his credit, advised eating three almonds a day to counter any tendency towards the disease.

Laetrile. From Apricot kernels that contain cyanogenic glucosides. Though competent physicians have reported positive results in some terminal cases without prior surgery or radiation, the remedy has been withdrawn from general practice because of possible toxicity.

Much needless suffering may be incurred because of out-moded resistance of doctors and governments against prescribing morphine early in cancer patients. It is estimated that 50-80 per cent of patients do not receive satisfactory pain-relief because doctors fear tolerance of the drug would increase, necessitating a higher dosage. From the beginning of time the Opium Poppy has been the most effective analgesic for the terminal condition. Morphine is a respiratory depressant and some authorities believe it should be given before the final stages in continuous doses for adequate pain control. Risks must be balanced with benefits. Dangerous in asthmatics.

Way of Life. Herbal medication of malignant disease involves the patient with his treatment. Here is something he or she can do to regain some control over their life. It can give them the satisfaction of knowing that in some way they are ‘fighting back’ thus influencing the quality of life and a sense of well- being.

If improvement in cancer is not possible maybe the condition can be stabilised and the patient helped to cope with the very unpleasant side-effects of chemotherapy and radiation. Thus, may be restored the body’s natural balance and a possible extension of lifespan.

For this, patients and practitioners may need information and support. That is why suggestions for malignant disease are included in this book. Moreover, well-meaning friends and relatives may exert pressure on the patient ‘to leave no stone unturned’ in search of a cure. Thus every possible secondary treatment should be considered since any one may prove to contribute towards recovery. It is hoped that this book will invite a therapeutic alliance with members of the medical profession as well as with other practitioners.

Macmillan nurses help alleviate physical pain and the psychological distress that can accompany this illness. They are trained to help people with cancer and their families fight cancer with more than medicine.

All forms of cancer should be treated by or in liaison with a qualified medical practitioner or an oncologist. ... cancer

Basal Cell Cancer. Strong sunlight on fair skins. Common on face and hands and other exposed areas. Commences as a tiny hard nodule. See – RODENT ULCER.

Squamous Cell Cancer. The role of sunlight in this type of cancer is even more positive. Other causes: photosensitisers such as pitch and PUVA photochemotherapy. Commences as a raised scaly rapidly- growing nodule.

Malignant Melanoma. Rare, but incidence rising. Four different kinds. Incidence is increased in individuals with fair or red hair who tend to burn rather than tan in the sun.

Causes may be numerous: genetic, occupational hazards or exposure to low-level radiation. Heavy freckling in youth doubles the risk. (Western Canada Melanoma study)

A study carried out by the New York’s Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre refers to damage to the ultra violet-blocking ozone layer by supersonic jet exhaust and aerosol propellants that can also raise the malignant melanoma rate. A University of Sydney study links fluorescent lighting with the disease. Symptoms. Itching lesion increases in size and with growing discoloration. Colours may present as brown, black, red, blue, white, with a red inflammatory border. May progress to a dry crust, with bleeding.

Study. A study conducted by a team from Melbourne University, Anti-Cancer Council and St Vincent’s Hospital, Australia, describes a summer-long experiment that showed that people who used a sun-screen lotion (in this case SPF-17) cut their chances of developing the first signs of skin cancer.

Study. Patients who receive blood transfusions are more likely to develop malignant lymphomas and non- melanomatous skin cancers. (European Journal of Cancer (Nov 1993))

Eclectic physicians of the 19th century reported success from the use of American Mandrake (podophylum peltatum). Recent experience includes a 76 per cent cure rate achieved in 68 patients with carcinoma of the skin by treatment twice daily for 14 days with an ointment consisting of Podophyllum resin 20 per cent, and Linseed oil 20 per cent, in lanolin, followed by an antibiotic ointment. (Martindale 27; 1977, p. 1341) Podophyllum is an anti-mitotic and inhibits cell-division and should not be applied to normal cells.

Aloe Vera. Fresh cut leaf, or gel, to wipe over exposed surfaces.

Vitamin E oil. Applying the oil to the skin can reduce chances of acquiring skin cancer from the sun. (University of Arizona College of Medicine)

Red Clover. “I have seen a case of skin cancer healed by applying Red Clover blossoms. After straining a strong tea, the liquid was simmered until it was the consistency of tar. After several applications the skin cancer was gone, and has not returned.” (May Bethel, in “Herald of Health”, Dec. 1963)

Clivers. Equal parts juice of Clivers (from juice extractor) and glycerine. Internally and externally.

Thuja. Internal: 3-5 drops Liquid Extract, morning and evening.

Topical. “Take a small quantity powdered Slippery Elm and add Liquid Extract Thuja to make a stiff paste. Apply paste to the lesion. Cover with gauze and protective covering. When dry remove pack and follow with compresses saturated with Thuja.” (Ellingwood’s Therapeutist, Vol 10, No 6, p. 212) Echinacea and Thuja. Equal parts liquid extracts assist healthy granulation and neutralise odour.

Rue Ointment. Simmer whole fresh leaves in Vaseline.

Poke Root. An old physician laid great stress on the use of concentrated juice of green leaves. Leaves are bruised, juice extracted, and concentrated by slow evaporation until the consistency of a paste, for persistent skin cancer. Care should be taken to confine to the distressed area. (Ellingwood’s Therapeutist, Vol 8, No 7, p. 275)

Maria Treben. Horsetail poultice.

Laetrile. Some improvement claimed. 1 gram daily.

Cider vinegar. Anecdotal evidence: external use: small melanoma.

Diet. See: DIET – CANCER. Beta-carotene foods.

Treatment by skin specialist or oncologist. ... cancer – skin